mick wrote in message . ..
On Thu, 13 Nov 2003 22:13:07 GMT, tmc
wrote:

On Thu, 13 Nov 2003 15:56:32 GMT, mick wrote:

Why can't the creators of this newsgroup block out all of Mins spam
and pychobabble?

It is un-moderated. No net nanny here.


Thanks TMC for your civilized answer. But, it seems to me that
forteinc.com has control over this. What if I was FBI and was tracking
kid porn perps on here. How would they track down such scum? My
point is, there must be some kind of intervention available or
tracking even in newsgroups. Certainly things aren't 100% anonymous
here, are they?

Forteinc.com do NOT have control over this. Usenet is NOT controlled
by any one orginisation. Forte write interface software to allow
people to read the newsgroups with a shiney GUI, and act as a
newsgroup server to paying customers, but they do NOT control what
happens on servers controlled by other orginisations or individuals.
Forte can choose to block Min's postings on their servers if they
wish. What they cannot do is block his or anyone else's postings on
any other server. That would be like me trying to control which TV
channels you can watch on your TV in your own home. If you don't like
Min's kookery, either ignore him or killfile him if your newsreader
supports it.

As for tracking who posts the messages, it can be done (I did that
sort of thing in a previous job), but only when people actually post
messages. Just reading a message doesn't always leave a record on a
server that it has been read, or a reliable record on a server of who
read it. You have to actually post a message before anyone can trace
your identity with any hope of certainty, and with unsecure news
servers, there are ways to change electronic identities to evade being
tracked (notice how Min keeps changing his posting name? That's to get
his messages seen by people who killfile him based on a specific
username. By switching to another username, the killfiles don't block
him until other people update them with his new username).